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SKA Saint Petersburg
| owner = Gazprom Export | affiliates = SKA-Karelia (VHL) SКА-1946 (MHL) | website = www.ska.ru }} The Hockey Club SKA ( ), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members of the Bobrov Division in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In spite of its long history, the club never competed in a league final until the 2014–15 KHL season, where they defeated Ak Bars Kazan winning the Gagarin Cup. In 2012, with an average of 10,126 spectators the SKA became the first Russian club ever to average a five-digit attendance. History The club was established in 1946 as a top level club of the Soviet Hockey Championship to participate in its first season. The original name the club was Kirov LDO (Kirov Leningrad Officers’ Club). It was subsequently changed to ODO (District Officers' Club) in 1953, SKVO (Sports Club of the Military District) in 1957 and finally Sportivnyi Klub Armii (Sport Club of the Army) in 1959. During the Soviet era the SKA (along with CSKA Moscow) belonged to the Ministry of Defense sports club system and consisted of Leningrad Military District officers. After finishing last in their group during the first season LDO skipped the next season and was downgraded to the second level of the championship in 1948. The club returned to the Soviet Class A in 1950–51 and remained in the top division of the Soviet league until 1991. The highest achievements of the club during that time were 1968 and 1971 Soviet Cup Finals (the former was lost to CSKA Moscow 7–1, the latter to Spartak Moscow 5–1) as well as the bronze medals of the 1970–71 and 1986–87 Soviet Championships. After one season in the second level division of the Soviet League (the first and the only CIS Championship) the SKA joined the International Ice Hockey League established by the top ice hockey teams of the former Soviet Union. During its 1993–94 season the SKA managed to advance to the IHL Cup semi-finals but lost to that year's champion Lada Togliatti. The club was less successful in the Russian Superleague that replaced IHL as the main Russian championship since 1996 failing to get further than the first playoff rounds. The formation of the KHL marked the beginning of a new era for the team. HC SKA got into their first conference finals during the 2011–12 season and finishing first during the regular season won the 2012–13 Continental Cup. In April 2015 the team has won the Gagarin Cup to become the KHL Champion, the first nationwide championship in club history. Awards and trophies Team Gagarin Cup *Winners (1): 2014–15 Continental Cup *Winners (2): 2012–13 Spengler Cup *Winners (4): 1970, 1971, 1977, 2010 Soviet Hockey Championship *3-rd place (2): 1970–71, 1986–87 Season-by-season record ''Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/Shootout Wins, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against'' References Category:Ice hockey teams in Russia